She sucked in a breath. “Are you nervous about something?”
“Course not.” He was lying, and he clearly knew she could see it.
Her heart was beating at a gallop now, and her cheeks had flushed with excitement. “You don’t have to be nervous, Ken. Not with me. Not about anything. I know I was scared at first, but I’m not scared anymore. Not about anything. I promise I’m not.”
That was evidently what he’d needed to hear. His face relaxed. “Oh baby, I love you so much.”
“I love you too. You know I do. And I know you’ve been so careful all this time about never calling me your girlfriend, and I really appreciate it. But that’s what I’ve been. Both of us know that’s what I’ve been.”
He nodded and stuck his hand into his pocket. “I know. But I was thinking...” He took a step back as he retrieved his hand. “I was thinking maybe we could skip over the girlfriend stage and move right to something else.”
Her mouth fell open, although she’d known something like this was about to happen. “Move to what?” she whispered.
Ken gave her another sheepish smile and lowered himself to one knee. He extended a diamond ring in one hand. “Madeline, I love you. I love everything about you. And I want to spend the rest of my life loving you the way you deserve. So would you please be my wife?”
She fell into helpless giggles. Had to raise her hands to her mouth to hide it.
Ken started to frown.
“Yes!” she burst out. “Of course I’ll marry you, Ken. I love you more than anything. There’s no one else in the world I’d ever want to marry.” She reached down to pull him back up to his feet.
He grinned as he straightened up. “Really?”
“Yes, really. I want you to be my husband so much!”
Ken slipped the ring on her finger, and they both beamed down at it. Then he kissed her and pulled her into a tight hug.
Marlowe had been watching these strange proceedings with interest, and now he ran in clumsy circles around them. He might have no idea what was happening, but his people were obviously full of joy, which meant that he was full of joy too.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: The Second Chance Flower Shop series continues with the third book, The Reunion. You can find an excerpt from it on the following pages. If you haven’t yet read it, the first book in the series is The Return (about Ria and Jacob).
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Excerpt from The Reunion
“I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE you yelled at Matthew,” Madeline said three weeks later as she sorted through dresses on a rack at a small regional department store in a town not far from Azalea.
Skye had been looking at dresses on another rack, but at this she whirled around. “I did not yell at him!”
Madeline laughed. Her gray eyes were just like Matthew’s, and right now they were warm and teasing. “I know. I know. You just spoke to him sternly.”
“It wasn’t sternly.” Skye’s cheeks were growing hot for no good reason. “It wasn’t anything really.”
“Well, whatever it was, it had a big effect on Matthew. It’s still nagging at him weeks afterward.”
“He really talks about it?” Skye had gone with Madeline and Ria to look for new dresses to wear to a reunion party at their old high school the following weekend, but she’d completely forgotten about shopping for the moment.
The amusement faded from Madeline’s face. “No. Of course not. You know Matthew. He wouldn’t open up about what he’s feeling to save his life. But every time the conversation even hints in your direction, he’ll ask about you. He thinks he’s being subtle, but he’s not.”
“He asks about me?” Skye’s heart was starting to hammer.
“Yep. Just casually, but something’s definitely prompting it. He never used to do it. I’m sure it’s because he’s upset about you telling him off.”
“I didn’t tell him off.” Skye felt a little like huffing, but she was also strangely gratified. She wasn’t used to having the things she said make a big impression on other people. She was more used to being metaphorically patted on the head. “I don’t think I was really mean about it. So you think he’s upset about it?”
Madeline shrugged. “Who knows with Matthew? I’m sure you weren’t mean. But I think whatever you said to him must have struck a chord.”
“Do you think I should apologize?” Skye was serious. She didn’t think she’d said anything wrong, but she also didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Particularly Matthew’s. She’d always sensed a secret fragility hiding underneath his strong, sober, unflappable demeanor.
For no particular reason, she remembered one day back in high school. She was walking into school when she saw Matthew arriving with a cast on his wrist. Being her (and with fewer boundaries since she’d been very young), she’d gone over immediately to ask him what happened.
He’d said he broke it falling off his bike on the previous evening. She’d asked a bunch more questions and slowly discovered that he’d gone home with his injured risk and told his mother he’d hurt himself. She’d been busy baking for a community event and told him to check with his father. His father had been busy working in his home office and told him to get his mom to take care of it. Madeline hadn’t been able to drive and hadn’t been home that evening anyway.
So Matthew had driven himself to the hospital with a broken wrist.
The memory hit Skye so hard and so suddenly that her vision blurred over briefly. She could well believe that Matthew hadn’t expressed to his parents how badly he was hurt. He’d been quiet and unnaturally composed even as a kid. But still...
Someone should have cared enough to take him to the hospital. It had really upset her when she’d first heard the story—although she’d had to drag the details out of him—and it upset her again now.
“I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings,” she whispered.
“I’m sure you didn’t. There’s not a mean bone in your body.” Ria stepped closer, holding a pretty red dress that would look gorgeous with her long dark hair and slim figure. “If you’re worried, you can just check in about it with him. He’s still coming to the reunion, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” Madeline confirmed. “He’s coming. He’s driving in on Friday and is planning to stay all weekend. He’s staying at my apartment, since it’s mostly empty now.”
Madeline was engaged to the county’s sheriff and was mostly living in his house now, but she still kept her old apartment above one of the storefronts in downtown Azalea. She wasn’t planning to give it up until she and Ken got married in a few months.
Skye had occasionally considered taking the apartment herself after Madeline moved out all the way, but she’d rather have a house with a yard so she could get a dog.